Travels near and far

Dubai

Dubai airport is sleek and busy with duty free shoppers. I get my visa from an Emirati immigration officer dressed in a traditional white gown and head cover. As it will turn out, he will be one the only Emirati citizen I will come into contact with. Everyone else is foreign: waiters, salespeople, guides, taxi drivers, hotel staff. Only about 10-15% of the population of United Arab Emirates are Emirati citizens, the rest being European and American expats as well as service and construction workers from the Middle East and South Asia.